Russian Jewish community: For its own good Turkey should recognize Armenian genocide

Date of publication: 06 06 2016, 11:57

The president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FJCR), Alexander Boroda, has criticized Turkish authorities for reacting to Bundestag’s recognition of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire with accusations against Germany.

“In this particular instance, Turkish authorities have stepped on their own tail. The way Bekir Bozdag [Turkish justice minister] spoke about it, this was done completely unnecessarily. The German approach is different from the Turkish one in that Germany did not disclaim its responsibility for the Holocaust; moreover, it drew the right conclusions from the past,” Boroda was quoted by the FJCR spokesperson as saying.

He was commenting on the Turkish justice minister’s remarks on the resolution that Turkey, unlike Germany, had nothing to be ashamed of, whereas the Germans who “once burnt Jews in their furnaces, are now slandering the Turkish people by accusing them of some genocide.”

Germany too has had relapses of nationalism and fascism, but neo-Nazi groups are present in almost any country, and Germany generally “understands what it has done,” Boroda said.

“I think today the Germans do have the moral right to point out to Turkey, which never recognized the genocide, its ‘wrong assessment of the history’ and the events that took place in the Ottoman Empire. Having made many mistakes in the past, Germany understands that keeping mum on one genocide unfortunately can easily lead the world to another, and for that reason it wants to caution Turkey against further keeping mum on history, which could lead to greater tragedies,” the FJCR president said.

“Things should be called by their names. The truth will help first and foremost Turkey proper, and most importantly, will keep the world away from new possible manifestations of genocide,” Boroda said.